Wellmeister's Healthcare
by Ao Yoake
Summary: Zetsu's just a little bit different, so he gets thrown into an insane asylum? Okay, so he killed his family, so what? Not to mention his hyperactive room mate, Tobi won't leave him alone... Warning: blood, insanity, cursing, and shounen-ai DISCONTINUED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE


"Your room is room 119, you are not to leave your room with out a guide, dinner is at 8:30, someone will be sent to your room to guide you. Is there any questions or concerns that you have?" spoke the blonde nurse. I shook my head and smiled sweetly at her.

"Then, please be off to your room now," she said, "I'll see you after you get back to your room to make sure everything is going fine." I nodded and stood from my seat, making my way to the door. I hesitated, wondering if I should tell her or not, but decided against it, grabbing the knob. I twisted the knob and opened the door.

Finally, out of that stuffy room! I glanced around. Wow, white room. How original, just like a hospital. Why, oh why, not one speck of color, it's so maddening. I sighed and headed down the hallway.

'114, 115, 116,117, 118... Ah! 119!' I hastily opened the door and poked my head in. Currently, nobody was in the room. I knew that I had a room mate, though, the bed was quite sloppy and there was toys scattered all over the floor.I chuckled and made my way across the room. My things had already been placed neatly in the corner, courtesy of the front office ladies. Not like I cared, it didn't matter if my stuff was here or not. It didn't bother me.

It wasn't anywhere near 8:30 so I walked over to my bag and searched through it. After a bit of pulling toiletries and other small items out of the way, I found what I was looking for. A thick black book.

It wasn't anything special, just a vampire book. Of course, nobody knew what the book was about or anything. I had just told them it was a romance. Rather, I told them that it was Twilight. I hate Twilight, what kind of idiotic buffoon believes that pixies with a blood fetish are vampires?

But then again, maybe it's a nice book, you never know. I thought about reading it... No! I would never read it, why would I read it? In any case, this book was nothing like Twilight. Nobody fell in love and if they did, it was a tragedy. No. This book was the perfect blood and gore slasher type of story that gave little kids nightmares before they even got into bed.

Either way, this was the perfect thing to pass the half an hour until I had to go to dinner. I wonder who my room mate is any ways? Sitting in the bed, I held the book up to my face. My eyes darted across the page, reading the book.

'_"How could you do this? I thought we were friends!" the petite girl shouted. Alas, her voice fell upon deaf ears. The man turned towards her slightly, smirking at her with those fangs._

_"Isn't this what you wanted? To be free from the curse!" he said, holding the man's severed head up. Her eyes widened. Up until then, she hadn't known who this person was. But now, she did. _

_Her brother's terrified expression, forever frozen on that beautiful face, was there. Blood leaked from the neck and somehow found it's way coming from his let out a loud shriek, screaming f-_'

**Knock Knock Knock**

Who the heck was interrupting me at a time like this? I glanced at the clock. Oh, crap, it's 8:25. I guess that means that it's just about time to got... Sighing, I flipped the book over and slamming it onto the bed, I made my way over to the door.

I yanked open the door to see a fidgety boy who was surprisingly about my height. He had the most beautiful red eyes and the cutest spikes of black hair I'd ever seen. How did he pull off looking so cute with how tall he was?

"Hi! Tobi's going to take you to dinner now!" my eyes widened. I didn't know why, but for some reason, even though he sounded like a little kid, it was so cute.

"I'm... I'm Zetsu..." I said softly. I wasn't quite used to talking to people that much, soit was a big change to be talking to anybody, especially this 'Tobi.'"So, is Zetsu ready to go then?" he asked sweetly.

"S... sure," I said, still trying to get the hang of talking. I could tell that Tobi was going to make me say more than one or two words sooner or later. I might as well start getting used to it.

I nervously searched the room with my eyes. Tobi and I were currently in the food line in the cafeteria. Today, the ladies were serving us chicken nuggets and fries. Ha! What do they think we are, children?

I looked over at Tobi. He was completely ecstatic over getting his cute little chicken nuggets on the small white, plastic tray along with some fries on the side. He bounced over to the soda machine.

"Yay, Tobi gets soda!" he giggled grabbing a cup. I stared at him. What made him so happy?

"It's just soda, what's so good about it?" I deadpanned. Tobi gasped, looking at me with a shocked expression.

"But you only get soda when you're good! And Tobi's a good boy!" he said, recovering his goofy grin and bright blush. God, how that expression frustrated me. I thought I liked girls! No... Maybe that's not it, I'm sure anybody would think he looks adorable... I groaned."Is something bothering Zetsu?" he asked softly.

"No, nothing. Nothing at all," I replied, glaring at my chicken nuggets, hoping that they'd catch fire. No such luck. I sighed glancing up at the bubbley teen. He was skipping his way over to a table that already had a few people.

I shyly followed him, taking a peak at them. There was a guy with spiky orange hair and tons of piercings, a girl with blue hair and a lip piercing, and a boy with gelled back silver hair and lavender eyes.

"Oh! Tobi almost forgot! Zetsu, this is Pein," he pointed to the one with orange hair, "Konan," the one with blue hair, "and Hidan!" then the one with silver hair.

Pein gave me a nod before looking away, Konan gave me a soft smile, Hidan just glared. Great, already have someone with a stick up SOMEWHERE... I just looked back at Tobi to avoid an unwanted situation.

"... Tobi... I don't know if it's a good idea for me to hang out with them..." I whispered.

"Oh, sure it is! Come on, let's sit down!" he said cheerfully before plopping down to Konan. Which left me to sit between Tobi and Hidan. I could have sit next to Pein and avoided sitting by him all together, but then I'd be next to someone that I haven't even heard talk.

I smiled at Tobi, then began picking at the chicken nuggets. I wasn't sure if I'd actually eat them or not, my stomach wasn't quite agreeing with it after this morning.

Hidan seemed to take notice of this. I quickly had his glare back on me. After a few minutes, I got fed up with it.

"What's your problem?" I growled.

"Nothing, just thought it's weird that you weren't eating..." he muttered. "Jashin, this is annoying..."

"Will you shut up about all your Jashin crap? I'm sure that the new guy doesn't want to hear it, Hidan," spoke a very tan looking guy with long black hair and stitches on his mouth. After a closer look, I noticed that he also had stitches on his wrists, among other places.

"Oh, sorry that I'm oh-so-annoying with my _religion_, Kakuzu. I'll stop right away. How about I wash your clothes and clean the kitchen while I'm at it?" he snarled turned to me, seeming to attempt at giving a smile. That attempt failed miserably, though, and seemed more like some freaky glare from a horror movie thanks to his stitches. At least he tried, though, I guess. But he'd probably give all the little boys and girls he met the scare of their lives.

"As Hidan so rudely mentioned, I'm Kakuzu,"he explained, "welcome to Wellmeister's Healthcare. Sorry that Hidan's being a bother. He may seem horrible, but don't worry, he's all bark and no bight. Unless you say something about his stupid cult religion."

"It's not a cult religion! It's Jashinism! And if you don't respect him, he won't have mercy on your soul! You're going to burn in hell if you don't start showing respect to him!" he started shouting.

"Yes, yes, Hidan, we all know how obsessed you are. Now kindly shut your damned trap." Pein said. Even though he spoke so quietly, his voice was pretty scary. I'm not sure why that was.

"Eep! Don't say bad words! Tobi doesn't like bad words!" Tobi started screaming. Was this how things were going to be from now on? Maybe Tobi wasn't as cute as I at first though he was...

"Tobi, will you quiet down already?" I snapped.

"Yes, Zetsu!" Tobi yipped before silencing himself. Ah, silence is bliss. I dropped the remains of the chicken nugget I had ripped to shreds and grabbed my tray. I was about to stand up when Tobi stopped me.

"Please, please, can Tobi have Zetsu's chicken nuggets?" he begged me, giving me the infamous puppy dog look. Even though I had been totally pissed just a minute ago, I ended up caving.

"Knock yourself out," I shrugged. I was amazed to see Tobi give me a strange glance, and then punch his own lights out. What. The... HELL?

"Oh my freaking God! Tobi!" I got down on the floor and shook the unconscious teen. He didn't give a response. I looked up at the group at the table.

"What do I do?" I shouted.

"Oh, for Jashin's sake, you shouldn't have told him to knock himself out!" Hidan muttered.

"I didn't mean it literally! How was I to know that he'd actually hurt himself?" I backfired. What doI do? This has never happened. I'm not used to being around other crazy people! Umm, let's see, check his pulse!

I tapped his wrist, trying to find the pulse. I found it, then thought of what to do next. Breathing! Okay, he's obviously breathing, I can see that, along with... Oh, hell no!There, dripping from his nose. This isn't good, I can't handle seeing or smelling that much blood at once, I'm going to lose it.

"Guys, he's got a nosebleed!" I shouted in a panic."Then take him to the nurse, damn, you complain like a woman!" Hidan said as Konan cleared her throat.

"Oh, sorry Konan, I didn't mean you," he said, putting his hands up in front of his face.

"I don't know if I can do that," I mumbled nervously."Why not?" Kakuzu asked me.

"B... because... it's... umm...Bathroom!" I shouted nervously, making a run for the bathroom that I saw on the way to the cafeteria.

* * *

I slammed the door behind me, locked it and quickly turned, letting my back fall on the door, sliding down with a high pitched squeak. I glanced around the restroom. I need something. Something sharp... Ah ha! My eyes stopped at the sink.

There, above the sink was exactly what I needed. A paper towel dispenser. And it was perfect, having sharp, serrated bottom part to slice paper towels. But I wasn't thinking about slicing paper towels, of course.

I pulled up my sleeve, revealing several deep cuts and even more scars. Grabbing hold of the paper towel dispenser I held my wrist up to the shining blade. Holding my breath for a second, I raked my wrist across the edge as hard as I could.

Small beads of blood found there way out from under the edge, taunting me. I reveled in the pain of the blade biting into my flesh. I felt a burning combination of pain and pleasure, something that was very hard to find.

I raked my wrist across until the slices were deep, then leaning over, I bit my wrist. It was my only way of coping. The taste of the blood was the only thing that could calm me after something like that happened.

I knew as soon as it happened that I wouldn't be able to stay near Tobi at the time. It was nothing against him and I wasn't scared of it or anything. But when ever I see blood of any amount, I tend to go kind of insane. By doing this, I could solve the problem quickly. I'm not emo! I think?

I closed my eyes for a few minutes before I completely calmed down. Once I was sure that I had myself under control, I stood up and turned on the faucet with lukewarm water. I stuck my hand underneath, letting it sit there and causing a stinging sensation.

The blood finally washed away and I grabbed a paper towel and patted the gashes on my wrist, then pulled the sleeve down. After cleaning off the paper towel dispenser, I crept over to the door. Right before I opened the door, there was an obnoxious knock.

Okay, that hurt my ears! I yanked the door open, glaring slightly down at the blond chick right into her visible eye. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Don't you think you're trying to get in to the wrong bathroom, woman?" I demanded."Woman? I'll have you know that I'm a guy, hm!" came a surprising more male sounding voice.

"Could've fooled me," I laughed menacingly before I shoved my way past him and down the hallway. People that now dislike me: most likely, two... But I didn't care, in fact, I couldn't care less. If they hated me, that was their own problem.

After a while, I finally found my way back to room 119. What a wonderful prison cell in disguise! Opening the door, I noticed that Tobi was still not back. Either he finally woke up and decided to finish eating or he was still in the nurse's office. Oh well, more peace and quiet for me.

I picked up my book, starting from where I left off. I didn't get any further, though, because the door suddenly opened, colliding with the wall, and there stood the blonde guy I had seen earlier. How the hell did he find my room?

"I think you owe me an apology, hm!" he glared across the room at me. I had to stifle a laugh at his demand. He wanted an apology from me?

"Yeah, how about I do that and then I can also go adopt the entire child population in the child's home along with donate to all the homeless in the world." I replied, my voice full of sarcasm.

"Very funny, but-" the blonde was cut off by the cheerful voice of Tobi.

"Hey! Tobi's back! What did Tobi miss?" he bubbled, skipping past Deidara. For some stupid reason, he had decided somewhere in that head of his that it was okay to sit on my bed and plopped himself down. I just kept my cool and rolled my eyes at him before looking back at my book. But I was actually focusing on Tobi.

"Wah! Deidara! What's Deidara doing here? Tobi is so happy to see Deidara!" Tobi then leapt up from the bed and darted over, hugging the blonde now deemed Deidara. Deidara seemed completely disgusted with this show of affection.

"Ugh! Get off me, hmm!" he hissed, shoving Tobi off. Something inside me suddenly decided to snap and I stood from my bed. Seeing Tobi's tear-filled face I stomped over to Deidara.

"Listen, girly," I growled, "I could care less what you say to me or how pissed off you are, but you see that?" I grabbed his shirt and yanked him towards me as I pointed to Tobi."I don't like it when you hurt him. **That's** what pisses me off. So guess what?" I asked, then punched him, "Do it again and I'll do more than just hurt your pretty boy face!" I threatened quietly so that only he could hear, then slammed the door in front of his shocked visage.

"Zetsu?" came a soft, childish voice which I recognized as Tobi's. I turned to the boy to see a frightened face...

"Z-Zetsu... your arm!" Tobi whimpered.

"Huh?" I snuck a peak down where I had cut my wrist earlier. What the-when did that happen? Blood had soaked into my sleeve. Had I somehow managed to slice an artery? It was my wrist, after all...

"Oh, crap..." I muttered, grabbing the bleeding appendage. Suddenly, I felt a chill down my spine... Something isn't right. I looked up at Tobi. He looked way to serious right now. As if he's a different person.

"Zetsu, what's this?" he questioned with a different voice from the usual hyper Tobi, slipping my sleeve up to reveal the swelling gashes. I bit back my hiss of pain. No way was I going to tell him what I had done or why I had done it.

"Answer me, Zetsu..." he spoke darkly. He squeezed the wrist, causing blood to gush out faster and I was reduced to whimpering at the sheer agony of the feeling. This was **not** the same pleasurable pain of slicing the flesh open. Especially when I was being scolded in this way.

I glanced with my hazed over eyes at those ruby red eyes, for some reason now very dark and menacing. This Tobi was definitely not the giggling mess from before. This Tobi scared me.

My eyes filled with tears against my own will. I wasn't sure myself whether I was crying because of this Tobi or the pain currently being dealt to my abused arm. Tobi shook my wrist one more time for good measure before dropping it.

"I guess that you don't want to tell me, then... that's okay, though. I already know that the one who did it was you. And I know it's because of me bleeding." he said quietly, his back turned. My eyes widened. How did he know?

"How do I know? That's probably what you are thinking, isn't it? The Tobi you know was unconscious. But I wasn't. Given the obvious information I witnessed, it's not hard to figure out what you did." he explained.

"I would say that the only thing I don't know is why you became disturbed in the first place, but that would be lying. The bite mark on your arm gives me the rest of the story. But that makes me wonder... Why do you like blood so much to that point?"

The way to speak made itself scarce in my mind. My lips were sealed tight and I had no idea what to do. All I did was stand up, keeping my eyes on the floor in order to avoid seeing him. I brushed past him and pulled myself under the covers.I peaked over my shoulder one last time at him before resigning myself to sleep. Maybe, in the morning, he'll be gone...

* * *

I finally decided that I was going to wake up at 8:00 AM. Not like I was going to get much more sleep anyways. In the end, I guess if Tsunade had actually come, then it was either before I got back or after I fell asleep. Slowly, I unwillingly recalled the happenings of that night before I went to bed in order to avoid him.

I took a peak over at the bed a couple feet from mine. He wasn't there. That didn't bother me much, it just meant that I was able to have some privacy while I got ready for the day. I tiptoed over to my bag, wondering if anyone was actually awake yet besides me and most likely Tobi.

After picking out my clothes from the black duffel bag, I headed into the little private bathroom that was built into the bedroom near the door. There was a little tiny shower in there with a small bar of soap and those little sample bottles of shampoo and conditioner that you see in hotels.

Luckily, I had brought my own liquid soap and hair products. There was no way I was going to use that stuff and irritate my scalp or something of the sort. Don't judge me, but I love the smell of roses, so that's the scent of my soaps. I carefully set them down on the little shelf that hung from the shower head as to not make them fall over after turning around. The crash they always make when they fall for some reason bugs me and tends to make the rest of my day horrible.

Turning around, I set my pants, shirt, and boxers on the vanity next to the sink. I looked in the mirror for a minute at myself. Something funny about me is, half my body is white and the other half is black. Literally. It gives a whole new outlook on the word racist and all that other junk.

I didn't care, though, even if it was freaky. I kind of figured that it was kind of like with albinos, a problem with the pigments in the skin. Come to think of it, Hidan seemed like an albino. Whatever. My hair was actually black and white when I was born, too. I dyed it green so that, for one I could be sort of rebellious, and for two, that I wasn't completely the same all over. It bugged the crap out of me.

I looked at my yellow eyes with disgust in the mirror. I saw that perfect copy of myself glaring back. Sure, to some, I looked cool, but I didn't think so. I was shunned by my own parents... That's beyond the point though, I should stop staring at myself in the mirror so that I can take a shower and clean off all the sweat.

Not that I'm girly or anything. A guy can be clean, too right? I whirled around, leaving my back to the disgusting image in the mirror. I walked around the toilet to the shower, turning the knob so that it was set on freezing cold and pulled it. The icy water was just what I needed in the morning time after all the stuff lately. Unlike most people, I loved cold showers.

After it finally cooled down to the setting I wanted, I picked my feet up over the small step into the shower. I pulled the malformed looking glass door closed and welcome the sharp touch of the water beating on my chest. I closed my eyes, reveling in it for a minute or two before I grabbed the shampoo bottle that I had placed on the shelf.

Twisting the cap off, I squeezed a generous amount of the red liquidly substance onto my black hand. I put the cap back on, sticking the bottle back on the shelf as I stuck my hand in my hair. After lathering it in for a half a minute, I stepped into the rush of water, letting it rinse my hair.

As soon as I was sure all the stuff was out, I grabbed the conditioner, which was pink but still rose scented, and did the same as I had with the shampoo, but I didn't rinse it out yet. Reaching for my body wash, I rubbed it all over my body until I was sure I could rinse off.

After I was done, I got out of the shower and pushed the knob in. With some shock, I realized that I had forgotten to grab my towel while I was searching through my duffel bag. Oh no! I opened the door feeling the cold air slap into my body. I may have liked cold water, but there was no way in hell I enjoyed feeling the cold air afterwards.

Looking around to make sure nobody was there to see my nude black and white body, I quietly picked my way around Tobi's toys to my bag. Right before I got to it, I heard the almost silent but unmistakable sound of the door opening.

Slowly, I turned my head in horror. There, with the door still closing as slow as molasses on it's own, stood Tobi, still as a rock. Not to insult anybody, but seeing him there made me scream like a girl who'd just seen the living dead.

Tobi just stared at me for a few minutes, as if he was sleeping with his eyes open. I threw the closest thing to me at Tobi. That item just so happened to be one of his little plastic action figures, so it had to hurt. After a few seconds, he finally snapped out of his daze and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Tobi's sorry, Tobi's sorry! Tobi didn't know that Zetsu was naked!"

With that, the childish teen was gone, door slamming behind him. Calming down my raging heart, I grabbed the green towel that I had been searching for and darted into the bathroom. Actually, after the occurrence just a minute ago, I was mostly dry, but I still dried off and rubbed my hair until it was dry and stuck up in every which direction.

I picked up my black and neon green boxers from the sink, sticking them on. I took another peak in the mirror. Most people always though that my black and white skin was make up or something because I always covered most of my body. What was he going to think? I blindly searched with my hands for the shirt, still looking at myself in the mirror and caught my hand on a razor.

What the- why is there a razor in a loony bin? I thought that they don't allow things that are sharp or long... Forget that, now I have my first three fingers sliced open! I never thought that I would find myself angry that there was something sharp at my disposal.I cleared my mind and got back to the task at hand. I picked up my shirt. It was one of those really weird shirts that you find in gothic stores that look like two shirts sewn together or something. The shirt itself was black with a big, green broken heart in the middle and it had skin tight striped green and black sleeves coming out from the short black ones.

I slipped it on with slight difficulty, it was actually made for girls, so it actually was skin tight. I guess you could call it a fetish of mine, wearing girl shirts. The pants were black cargo pants with green plad trimming and green chains. It was a lot easier putting them on than the shirt and once I had them situated on my hips, I pulled up the zipper and buttoned the top part.

I kind of wished that I had my stupid belt, but I knew that it wasn't allowed because I might try to commit suicide by choking myself. Damn, I thought that America allowed freedom of expression and all that crap, but apparently you aren't allowed to wear an accessory without everyone thinking that you're going to kill yourself. Which makes me wonder why I got away with wearing chains on my pants for that matter.

After brushing my hair and teeth, I warily opened the bathroom door again and peaked around it, trying to see if Tobi was back. He wasn't, so I figured that he had decided to go on to the cafeteria for breakfast. I found my socks that matched the outfit I was wearing, and slipped them on. I didn't bother with shoes, the staff couldn't care less whether we wandered the halls barefoot.

After looking in the mirror one last time, I headed to the cafeteria, grumbling the whole way as my bad mood finally kicked in. Some of the desk ladies at the front of the boy's ward stared at me as I passed by but didn't say anything after I glared at them.I finally got to the cafeteria and grabbed a tray of food and chocolate milk, not caring about whatever was on my tray, then sat with the rest of the group. I sat there, grumbling as I stabbed my eggs with my plastic spork, kind of hoping that they would bleed. No such luck, the only liquid that came out was yellow. I settled for glaring at them instead, making a face at them. I noticed Kakuzu sitting down next to me.

"Your not really a morning person, are you?" he asked rhetorically.

"You think?" I deadpanned.

After sort of lashing out at Kakuzu, I think my attitude rubbed off onto him or something, because after that, he seemed pretty pissed off himself. I just rolled my eyes, then looked from the corner over at Tobi who was sitting on my right side, while Kakuzu was on my left. Lately, he hadn't done anything like last night. It's not like I wanted him too, I was grateful that he wasn't, it just had me paranoid. Not to mention this morning...

I kind of blushed, thinking about that embarrassing moment. What was I worried about, though? Tobi acted like a freaking five-year old for crying out loud! It wasn't like he was going to seriously do anything mean or something like that. I took a sip of my chocolate milk before tossing my tray into the trash and sitting back down next to Tobi.

Actually, that milk was the only thing that I had consumed in three days. Besides a few other things... But that didn't count. I looked at him again. Unlucky for me, Tobi was looking at me, and he looked all too serious again.

"You ready to tell me about yesterday?" he asked, his high pitched voice gone again. And here I had been hoping that he'd be back to 'normal' Tobi. I groaned and slammed my head down onto the table so hard the I saw stars. That caught everyone's attention and in less than five seconds the entire table was looking at me.

I didn't dare lift my head from the table. Not because everyone was looking at me- Tobi included- but because Tobi was still giving off that aura. The one I noticed that he gave off when he was like that. Unconsciously, I wondered if **that** Tobi had seen me earlier today. The black and white skin... all the scars.

The scars that I was thinking of weren't the ones that I had done. The only ones that I had made were on my right wrist- the white side. Would either Tobi make fun of me? Would they think I was a monster like my parents did?

It didn't matter, a bell rang, dismissing everyone to go to their ward to meet up with their group and guardian for the duration of the time they stayed. I immediately headed out of the cafeteria at a break neck pace in order to avoid any questions that would have been asked if I stayed any longer.

I pushed the door open and ran right into a firm body, falling back on my rump and hitting the back of my head on the door. That wasn't very good for me because then, the headache that had already developed got even worse and I yet again saw stars, except this time, they completely blinded me.

Though my head was pounding so loudly, I could still hear every thing clearly, in fact everything sounded so loud that it was unbearable. I rubbed the back of my head, closing my eyes tightly, I couldn't see at the moment anyways. I felt a feather light tap on my shoulder.

"Are you alright?" came a soft, slightly girly sounding voice. I opened my eyes, my vision starting to come through a bit. I could barely make out the outline of a guy right in front of me, blurs of color in front of me. Slowly, the image got clearer to reveal a guy, seeming a bit younger than me with red hair and topaz pools for eyes.

"Yeah, just got the wind knock out of me," I replied, brushing his hand off my shoulder.

"Are you sure?" he said hesitantly, "That looked like it had to hurt. You don't need to go to the nurse or anything? I could take you there if you want..."

Suddenly, I felt that aura. Tobi was coming through the double doors. I froze for a second.

"Actually, come to think of it, I'm starting to get a horrible migraine and I can't see straight! Can you help me get to the nurse, please?" I was reduced to hastily begging. I really wanted to escape that aura as soon as possible. It was suffocating. Plus, I wasn't lying about what I said.

"Sure, here," he offered his hand and helped me up, "can you walk?"

"I'm not sure..." I said, pretending to try to walk and fall over. The red head helped me up and held onto my hand, guiding me to the nurse's office.

Once we were there, I saw a girl who seemed about my age, but probably a bit younger. She was sitting at the desk, going through a bunch of papers with a frustrated look on her face. She kind of scared me and I wasn't sure if I wanted to be around if she was angry at me.

"Hey, Sakura," said the red head, "this one's got a migraine... hit his head on the door when I knocked him over. Do you think you've got anything for him?" he said, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Honestly, you've got to be more careful," she said, rolling her eyes at him, "one of these days you're going to cause something worse than a migraine or a couple scratches and bruises."

The girl who I now knew as Sakura stood from her office seat, putting her hand to my head. Surprise, surprise, I had a fever. It wasn't weird for me. My body was naturally five degrees over the normal body temperature and for anyone else, that would signify being sick. For me, it was the same, just at a higher temperature.

"Oh, God! You have such a high temperature, how come you didn't tell anyone?" she panicked. When she noticed my expression was still extremely calm, she looked at me strangely.

"Calm down, that's my normal temperature," I put a hand on my hip -another girly habit - and leaned a bit to the side, "honestly, you think that if I really had a temperature, that I'd act like nothing's wrong. It might be weird for you, but I was born this way."

"... Oh..." she mumbled, turning to the medicine cabinet, "Well then, some Tylenol should do the trick and you can be on your way!"

She handed me two small pills and filled up a small plastic cup with water, then gave me that as well. I quickly stuck them in my mouth, downing the water in one gulp. Ah! Just what I needed.

Actually, most of the reason why my head was taking so much damage was because I was dehydrated. Eating, I could go without for a long time. It was water that I actually needed a lot of. My high body temperature was partially to blame, it killed a lot of the water in my system really fast.

"Thanks," I whispered, "I should probably head back to the ward."

"Well, I kind of have to go the same way anyways, so I'll go with you!" said the red head with fake excitement. He really didn't seem to show any emotion what-so-ever. Maybe he was gothic or something? I didn't really mind him being there, though. If I ran into Tobi, it would be better to have him there. We began walking towards the ward and I suddenly realized something.

"What's your name, anyways?" I asked, blushing in embarrassment that I had actually forgotten to ask this whole time.

"Oh! I'm Sasori Fusao, sorry I didn't tell you earlier..." he rubbed the back of his head, "You are...?"

"Zetsu, Zetsu Akahana,"I replied in a sort of monotone. I didn't quite like my last name. Not because it was girly, but because it was the same name as my parents'.

"What an interesting name. It suits you,"he honestly seemed to mean what he said as he smiled a real smile this time, "but most of us tend to use the group last name."

"Huh?" I asked, staring at him with a dumbfound expression.

"The group, I think you've met most of them. Tobi, Pein, Konan, Hidan, Kakuzu, and most likely Deidara. I'm the last one. We like to go by Pein and Konan's last name. They're brother in sister, in case you didn't know already. Their last name is Akatsuki, so we tend to use that as our last name for the gang." he explained. I was left to wonder how he didn't run out of breath.

"So... you're group is Akatsuki?" I wondered out loud.

"Yup!" he said, "Though, Pein's thinking about recruiting one or two more. Said that they might be interesting or something..."

"Oh?" I asked, "Who might that be?"

"Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki," he whispered into my ear, hiding his mouth with his hand, "rumor is that Uchiha killed most of his family and Hoshigaki is one of the freakiest guys on the street."

"So what kind of gang is Akatsuki?" I asked, my curiosity peaked.

"Just a safe haven of sorts for misfits. Even here in Wellmeister's, there's people who are shunned. People like you and me," he explained.

"Is that so?" I mused, "So it's kind of like a clique of friends, huh?"

"Yeah, I suppose..." he said softly, seeming kind of effected as well. _Friends_... I've never had anyone like that before... Are these people really my friends?

Out of no where, someone kicked me down onto the ground.

"That's for last night, hm!" came that annoying voice of the blonde. What was his name? Delilah?

I would have immediately sat up and retaliated, but then I noticed that my cut from earlier had opened from colliding on and sliding across the floor. What's worse was that now it had a rug-burn.

I gasped at the pain in my wrist and clutched it. Why did I have to get hurt all the time? Sasori took notice of this action and glared at him.

"Deidara, what are you doing to my friend?" he growled threateningly.

"He started it, hm!" he backfired, "Sasori, my man, why are you taking that freak's side, hm?"

"I just told you, Deidara, 'that freak' just so happens to be my friend. AND, I just got him out of the nurse's office! Look what you've done!" he pointed at my arm. I guess he didn't know that it had already been wounded.

"But, my man, you can't seriously be friends with someone who is black and white, hm!" he shouted, causing my eyes to open wide before they filled with tears. Here it goes again. Another one shunning me because of my color, just like mom and dad.

I whimpered from the shear pain in my chest. How could it hurt when there was no blood or bruise? I didn't know. But it hurt. Suddenly, instead of sad, I was angry. The rage filled me up, causing me to see red a bit. I knew that my temperature probably went up, too.

"**So you don't like what color I am?**" I muttered, "**What do you know when not only are you blonde, but you even grow out your hair? Don't mock me, blondie!**"

I saw myself wrap a black hand - the bloody one -around his skinny neck. I felt a grin stretch across my face. I could feel my white arm pulling back for a punch. The fist came forward, smashing into his face over and over.

"**Don't you think that you should leave me alone? Huh? I got an idea!**" I shouted, the blood now dripping causing me to become quite delirious, "**How about I make you feel the pain that I feel? Would you like that?**"

I whispered the last part into his ear. He shook his head vigorously, tears running down his face.

"**Oh, but I think you do! After all, you got me all excited, I've got to-**"

"Zetsuuuuuuu!" I felt something collide with my body and before I knew it, I was sprawled out on the floor with a heavy weight on my chest. "Zetsu! Tobi was looking everywere for you! Where'd you run off to?"

I looked up to see Tobi right there in my face, the happiest lost-puppy-dog-that-found-his-owner look I'd ever seen written all over his face. My eyes widened as I came back to my senses after staring at him for a while. I looked at Tobi strangely. What... the hell?

"T-Tobi? What just happened?" I said softly, trying to get used to my voice again."Tobi doesn't know..." he said, scratching his head as he peaked behind himself at Sasori. "Oh! Hi, Sasori!" he waved ecstatically.

"... Hi…" he said, seeming slightly taken aback by what just happened. Whatever happened.

"You freaks!" cried Deidara as he ran for dear life.

"Weirdo," I said, "All I do is start crying and he calls me a freak."

"But don't you remember? You just bea-" Sasori started but was cut off by a glare from Tobi. Strange. Very strange.

* * *

I wasn't quite sure how we had ended up in the cafeteria, all I knew was that there was a food war that had been started up. It might have started with a curse, or a disagreement. I do know that it involve Tobi and Hidan.

After the food fight had spread to the entire cafeteria, a monitor who - unlucky for him - was on duty ended up sending everyone out into the hall. Which made things a little cramped. I glanced over at Tobi, who was still going on about how that was the best food fight ever. I didn't really care about that, though, as long as he was normal Tobi, I was completely content to be there. I noticed Sasori's gaze on me and looked over to my left at him.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"No, nothing. Just thought that you seemed to be really good at tolerating him," he used his head to indicate Tobi. I knew that Tobi had noticed the remark and was pretending as if he had no idea what was going on. I wasn't sure if it occurred to Sasori. Or anyone for that matter."Tobi just got the greatest idea! Tobi and Zetsu can go in the bathroom to play a game!" Tobi suddenly declared, dragging me towards the little boys room. I never realized just how strong he was until that moment.

"Tobi, what are you doing right before class, hm?" screamed Deidara at him. I was trying to figure out if he was doing that just because Tobi was annoying or possibly to somehow protect me? But that was silly, why would he protect me. He wasn't scared of me or anything, right? Like mom and dad... Right...?

I didn't really have any time to think that over though, because before I knew it, Tobi and I were in the bathroom with the door locked. Damn, he was fast. You'd think a childish person like that was weak and all that crap, jeez...

"Sooo... Tobi was wondering... is there anything... that... umm..." he trailed off, fiddling with his fingers, "Istheresomethingthat'?" he said in one big rush. I blinked.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I- um... Is there something that's wrong with Zetsu that Tobi needs to know about? Like... Tobi knows! Like maybe Zetsu has another Zetsu or something?"

"Eehhh?"

"Tobi just thought that Zetsu was acting weird. And not just like there's another Zetsu. Like when Tobi hurt his nose. Zetsu ran off really fast when he saw the blood. Or when Tobi saw Zetsu's arm bleeding. There was lots of blood! And Zetsu was like another person when he was hurting Deidara, he wasn't himself then!" my eyes widened as bits of that moment with Deidara came rushing in. Not all of it, but I remember a lot! Wrapping my hand around his twig like neck, punching his face in until blood was pouring down. Oh... God, what have I done?

"I... Tobi, I don't know... I'm not sure what came over me with Deidara," I looked him in the eye, "Tobi, what have I done?"

"Tobi doesn't know, but Tobi's scared too!" he hesitated for a minute, "But Tobi's there for Zetsu. Tobi will help Zetsu if Zetsu wants him to.""Thanks, Tobi, that means a lot to me," I smiled at him.

"But what about the blood problem?" Tobi asked out of the blue, "Tobi still doesn't know what's going on much."

"I- um," what was I supposed to tell him? I felt sweat starting to form on the back of my neck. He already saw the rest of my body that time. If he knows about my blood fetish, I don't think there'd be any hope...

"Please, Zetsu!" he begged looking deep into my eyes with those puppy eyes he loved to use on me so much, "Tobi really wants to know!"

"Are you sure?" I asked him. He paused for just a second, seeming to think for a minute. He looked down at the floor, then looked up into my eyes.

"Tobi wants to know," he said determinedly. I nodded, just standing there for a minute, trying to think of how to say this. I figured that I might as well just tell him and quit beating around the bush.

"Ummm... Tobi, do you know what a vampire is?" I asked him, sounding kind of like the mommy explaining why birds fly to their five-year old child.

"Yup!" he said, smiling, proud of the fact that he knew what I was talking about. I nodded, thinking for a minute and looked back up at him.

"Well, it's kind of like that. You know how when a vampire sees blood, it has to drink it?" I asked.

"Yeah!" he said, seeming to get more excited like the little kid that he was acting like.

"Umm, I'm kind of like a vampire. When I see or smell blood, it makes me go crazy...

"So... um... When you started bleeding, it made my vampire instincts kick in!" There! Not too bad for talking to a guy who acts as if he has ADHD if I do say so myself.

"Ooohh, so Zetsu is a vampire?" he said, hands balled up in excitement in front of himself. I smiled at him, blushing in slight embarrassment.

"Yeah, I guess so..." I whispered.

"And Zetsu hurt himself so that he wouldn't hurt Tobi..." he said, pouting. I chuckled at the face that he made. It was so interesting how he seemed to be so gullible and all. Right now, anyways.

"... Yes, I guess if you put it that way, I suppose I did," I replied. He looked me in the eye.

"Zetsu shouldn't hurt himself," he said sternly.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked, taken slightly aback.

"Tobi said that Zetsu shouldn't hurt himself for Tobi!" he said, "It upsets Tobi and Tobi doesn't like it!"

"Then what do you expect me to do? Hurt you?" I shouted, not quite noticing that I actually had. He just looked at me as if I was stupid. (Oh the irony!)

"You've got to be kidding me..." Tobi just giggled and unlocked the door, dragging me back out. And I thought I was the superior one, too.

"Tobi thinks that Tobi and Zetsu should get back to the ward!" he declared. It felt like my arm was being ripped right from it's socket. I mentally groaned. Was this how things were going to go from now on?

"Tobi, please slow down," I whined, **"you're ripping my arm off!"**

He swiftly slowed down a bunch, muttering a, "Sorry, Zetsu!"

I just rolled my eyes. Some people. Where do they get all their energy? Even though Tobi had slowed down so much, for some reason, we got to the ward in plenty of time.

"Yo! Zetsu, what did you play with Tobi in the bathroom, anyways?" asked Sasori, obvious curiosity in his voice. Why was everybody in my business?

"We were playing..." I trailed off.

"Shirotori!" Tobi declared. I stared at him. Shirotori, what the-?"Oh, I love that game!" exclaimed some guy I'd never seen before. Wait... Oh... my... God! The dude is blue! What the hell?

"Dude, you're blue!" I shouted. _Oh, real smart, shout the obvious..._

"Dude, you're black and white! Do you really have any room to speak?" he said, voice filled with sarcasm. The heat in my cheeks came up to such a point that I'm sure the blush was completely visible from a mile away on my black side. I looked down at the floor in embarrassment. Come on, cool down! Do you want to make yourself faint like that one time at school?

"Sorry..." I mumbled, voice shaky.

"Nah, it's all fine, man. I know you didn't mean anything. But seriously! I never knew there was someone else with that sort of problem! So what happened to you? Tattoo or...?"

If the blush had started going down, I think it came back. I should have known this question would come eventually. I searched around, swiveling my head and trying to see if there was anyone besides the Akatsuki gang listening in. There was no way I was going to say this in front of somebody I didn't really know if there were eavesdroppers. Seeing the coast was clear, I turned back towards the shark looking person.

"You want to see my stomach? It goes all the way down," I said, trying to avoid the subject just a bit. It was obvious that he thought it was cool, so I wasn't embarrassed about showing him. Anyway, he was blue, why would he care?

Not just the blue dude, but most of Akatsuki, excluding Deidara, nodded their heads vigorously. I smirked. Someone finally appreciated my deformation. I looked down at my shirt before cautiously reaching my hand after checking around for bystanders again and yanked up my shirt. Even Deidara in the end turned out to think that it was pretty awesome. It was kind of strange because I had been like this my entire life.

"So, how did it happen?" asked blue man, "Cause I'm pretty sure that you aren't old enough to get a tattoo like that."

I nodded my head in affirmation. He was definitely right by that one. Plus, I'd never be able to get my parents' consent.

"Would you believe me if I told you I was born this way? Minus the green hair... that used to match the skin," I had to chuckle, remembering how idiotic it looked.

"Woah, you mean like perfect symmetry and all?" he dared to ask. I smirked at him to show that he was right in his assumption. He started to laugh.

"Man, that's so much cooler than me! I'm Kisame, by the way!" he said, smirking to show a row of sharp, serrated teeth to me. My eyes widened.

"Kisame? Kisame Hoshigaki?" I asked, recalling what Sasori had said about Pein wanting two new members.

"Yup, that'd be me!" he stuck his blue hand out to me.

"Zetsu... Zetsu Akahana,"I told him, shaking hands with slight hesitation. I could have sworn that his hands felt just like sandpaper. Maybe a bit too moist to be sandpaper though.

"So, how'd you get that way?" I asked, my curiosity finding it's way into my voice.\

"Was an experiment for the insane dude. More insane than most of the people here. His name is Orochimaru. Ever heard of him?"

"Nope, never. Although, I think I'm glad I haven't."

"You should be. Good thing he died. Even if it was that Sasuke..."

"Who-?" my question was cut off by the obnoxious clapping of someone behind me. Kisame and I both probably jumped three feet in the air.

"Okay, guys, let's get this show one the road!" came the voice of a man. I turned to see a guy with silver hair that all messily tilted off to the side and two different eyes. One eye was such a dark brown that it looked black while the other was red. It looked kind of like Tobi's, but not quite the same. Tobi's eyes were prettier and he had two.

"Late, as usual,"said Pein. Wow, I barely ever hear him talk. Note to self, try to get Pein to talk more... Why doesn't he talk that much? Well I sort of didn't talk much before I came here. Why do I want him to talk anyways? _Shut up and listen to the teacher_!

"Well, moving on... Hmm... It seems that Naruto is missing. He must've overheated again or something," said the silver headed man casually. Then, he looked at me.

"Ooohh! It seems that one of our new friends has arrived! I take it that you already know everyone in your group by now and I'm Kakashi. I will be you're guardian while you're here. That means that if there's anything you need or something of the sort, you can come to me," he explained.

"I believe that's everything... Oh, would you look at the time! It seems that we have missed school... Oh well!" What a care free teacher! Listen! "Since that's already passed, we will just have to go to group activity. Everyone, to the drawing room!" he pointed off in some random direction.

"Um... you do realize that the drawing room is that way?" said Deidara, pointing in the opposite direction.

"Dumb ass," said Sasori.

"Ack! Tobi's virgin ears!" Tobi cried, clamping his hands down on his ears."Hey! I will not tolerate that language, young man!" Kakashi tutted. He obviously didn't actually care whether Sasori spoke profanity or not. Why is someone like him working here? He's so irresponsible.

"Can we just **get to the art room already?**"

Woah, was that really me? _Of course it was_! Oh, okay... Wait, what? I didn't hear an answer after that. Hm...

Kakashi was looking at me weird for a minute before he brushed off what had just happened. I looked at Tobi, then quickly looked away. Why was I always looking at him so much?

Deidara already started walking off, Sasori close behind, towards the way that I assumed was to the art room. Even though he acted like he hated him, I think Sasori actually liked having Deidara around. It made me want to giggle, but I held it back. That was Tobi's thing, not mine.

Tobi and I followed the rest of the group, Kakashi behind us reading some sort of book. It looked suspiciously like porn. The front read Icha Icha Paradise. After walking a couple doors down the hallway to the right of the boy's ward, we got to the art room. It actually was kind of cool looking.

Kakashi closed the door behind us before sitting at the front of the art room, still reading his book. He glanced up before going back to the book. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. I looked at Tobi and he seemed equally lost.

"Yo, Kakashi, what are we supposed to do?" asked Hidan, seeming a bit pissed. Did he just not like the art room or something?

"Just do what ever. I don't care... But no sniffing the markers, I'll report you..." he threatened, but there wasn't anything in his voice backing up the threat. Like I said, so irresponsible.

I noticed Deidara getting some clay out and Sasori getting wood and a knife. Seriously? Is this actually an insane asylum? They're more lenient than the high school I went to. Besides the fact of the clothing rule. I figured the only reason anyone got away with sharp things is because we are almost constantly under watch.

I was feeling kind of bored. Well, it's an art room. Let's see, there's paper... paint... pencils... Hmm. Oh! I know what I can do!

I rushed over to the cupboard, finding a big, twelve by six inch piece of paper and some art pencils. Carrying my findings, I found a seat near the cupboard and sat down in it, setting everything on the art table. I looked at the paper for a few minutes, ideas going through my head.

When I had the idea formed in my head, I willed it to stay and grabbed the lightest shade of pencil I had found to sketch. The tip slid across the paper smoothly, and soon, I had a circle. That circle quickly became a face. And... that face got spiky black hair that stuck out in every which direction. Soon that face gained a body.

When I realized just what I had started drawing, I started to get angry. I started to add some shading in the forms of something unexpected. I made many shadows in the background and made the expression one of fear and despair. I smiled to myself. That's better. Deciding that my sketch was finished, I grabbed my darkest art pencil and darkened the outline of the picture.

After I completed this, I stood from my seat and crept over to the art counter, searching for my next needed items. I quickly found them. Different variations of reds, a black, some orange, and the perfect colors for pale flesh. When I got back to my artwork, I found Sasori and Deidara staring at it. This quickly became an argument of whether it was eternal or a bang. Whatever that means.

I just stared at them for a minute before getting back into my mood. I fleshed out the skin, making the pale color I needed and made the black abyss of hair. I filled in the shading and then got to the part that I was worried about coloring in. I colored it in. Reds and pinks, darker colors here and there. And I'd also have to get in the eyes.

By the time I was finished with the painting, it was quite disturbing if I do say so myself. There, on the big sheet of paper was Tobi, covered in blood, surrounded by the dark shadows around him, eyes widened in fear. By now, Sasori and Deidara just stared at it. Sasori was the first to speak after being in that mindless stupor that they had been in.

"Well, that is... nice?" he said sort of nervously, "I mean, the blood is kind of freaky and all. You know with it being so realistic? But that doesn't mean it's bad! I mean, it looks real, like a picture instead of a painting!"

"That is art, hm. Art is a bang!" Deidara then returned to his clay. Weirdo. Soon, I was left alone again to review over my thoughts as I looked down at the thing I had concocted."Is that supposed to insinuate something about me?" came a dark, serious voice. I veered around to see Tobi looking with that serious expression he got at those times, looking really hard at my painting. He seemed genuinely interested in it.

"Well, I can't imagine myself with that expression... I take that back maybe, the other one. But definitely not me," he smiled at me with that face and patted me on the back, "I do admit, though, that I might allow the rest of it, just not the whole fear thing. It's not me."

I just nodded. What was I supposed to do? I just got caught doing something embarrassing! I looked back down at the image of Tobi. I suddenly felt disgusted with myself because I had actually liked it. I believe that in a way, this is a curse. I'm so good at painting blood that it actually makes me kind of go crazy as if it's real. Why'd I do that?

I took a quick glance at Kakashi. Even though he appeared to be reading a book, I knew he was watching. I made a run for it. I bashed the door open and ran down the hall.

Only after I had escaped from the room had I realized how horribly I had screwed up. I looked behind myself, but nobody was pursuing. Why wasn't anybody chasing me? _That doesn't matter, got to get out of here!_

My eyes shifted back and forth as I ran. I saw all the doors I passed by, but none seemed to lead outside. Then, I saw somewhere. A fire escape! I ran to it, but stopped. Should I pull the alarm...? Nah, if I want them to get distracted, all I have to do is open the door and it'll go off anyways.

I slammed into the door, causing it to swing out at full force and ran with all my might. Ah, freedom is bliss! I ran as fast as I could and kept going until I found myself at the front of the property. The entrance to Wellmeister's Healthcare. I took a deep breath of air, taking a peek behind myself. Still nobody.

But that's strange, I know I'm a fast runner, I was the best in track and all, but there should at least be someone at the distance of the horizon. It was almost as if they were letting me do as I pleased. Like they knew I'd be back.

I dismissed the thought with the shake of my head and started running again. Even if they weren't chasing me now, you never know when they might start. I ran on and on, letting my feet take me where they would.

I soon found myself in front of my house. I walked up the door, grabbing the knob and turning. I knew it would be unlocked. Because it always would be. I walked into the raggedy looking house, looking around. Nobody was here, but I knew that this was to happen as well. They're all dead.

My entire family is dead. But I don't care. I'm the one who did it. I have no regrets either. Even if it did reveal my 'insanity' as everyone rudely words my problem. I think I just have my wits about me unlike everyone else. I'm not saying that I'm sane, but I'm not completely insane either. I know that I'm at least sane enough to realize this.

The ones who are crazy are the authorities, and the family I murdered. I can only say that I did it in self defense, but nobody would believe that the wounds that I'd constantly been nursing had been caused by my own family. They'd never want to admit that they had been wrong, so they'll stubbornly stick to their statement and force me to suffer for it.

They don't want to admit it, but they truly are stingy villains. Even I can see that. And I'm in an insane asylum. Well, I was, but I'm free now! I looked at the mantle above the fireplace. There used to be a family photo beautifully framed with golden painted wood. Now, that very same photo with the beautiful frame was smashed on the floor, glass spread all across the slick wood.

I gasped and looked down as I felt a sharp pain. I had stepped on a shard. Wow, how smart of me. I'm not wearing shoes because I never wear them in the insane asylum and now I've sliced my foot at least a quarter inch open. I reached down and carefully pulled the shard out, wincing at the sting. I may have done something like **that** to my wrist, but glass always hurt like something from another world.

I wandered around absent mindedly through the house and found myself in the bathroom. Good, I need something to stop the bleeding in my foot. I looked down at the floor, heat rising in my cheeks even though there was no one to see. I had tracked blood all the way to the bathroom. Now there were several perfect scarlet footprints leading straight to my position. Now to the task at hand, I opened the mirror to get to the little medicine cabinet. Good thing that this place didn't get cleared out, otherwise I'd have a bit of a problem. I grabbed some peroxide, a cotton swab, and a big roll of bandages. I slowly sat down on the closed toilet seat, picking my foot up and placing it on my knee.

The funny thing was that I had gotten the black foot. I really was black on the inside. At least on that side of me. I tipped over the peroxide bottle, getting some of the horrid liquid onto the swab. With a feeling of dread, I swiped it across the cut. The burning sensation was instant and I winced for a moment before wrapping up the foot nice and tight.

After cleaning up the house, I crawled into the bed. The same bed that I had murdered my own brother. And yet, I couldn't help but feel as if I was being watched. No matter how hard I tried to brush off the feeling, it just kept coming back.

But that was impossible. Nobody knew the location of the house, it was forgotten.

* * *

"Zetsu, how could you do this...? To your own family, you would-" the shouts of despair and agony, the defying questions and demands were all cut off one by one. Cut off by that blade. The one gripped tightly in a shaky black hand.

"I don't have a family," said a terrifying voice, dark chuckles dripping from his mouth like evil creatures of the night come to chase you. There was no escaping him. Nobody could escape. Nobody.

"NOOOOOO!" I screamed in desperation, a cold sweat all over my body. That dream again. The one where I murdered them all, one by one. But that wasn't me! They were calling a monster by my name!

I shook my head, wiping my hand over my forehead. I stopped as I felt how hot it was. Oh crap, you're kidding me! I checked again, but the evil fever disobeyed my pleas. It doesn't matter. I should cool down after an ice cold shower.

I shoved the covers off my body, stopping to enjoy the wind brought by the shift in the blankets and sheets. I glanced around. I need something to where if I want to even try going to school... I crept over to the dresser, checking the drawers.

All of my deceased brother's clothes were still there, just like everything else. I smirked, good thing we had similar taste in style, or this would never work. I grabbed the first shirt and pants I saw, also picking out some underwear and socks.

I dragged my feet all the way to the bathroom where I had patched up my black foot the night before. There was blood on the walls and at the edge of the sink, but that was okay. I could ignore it because of the memories. I glanced at the tub, then down at my feet.

I was going to have to take the bandage off in order to shower. Sighing in defeat, I sat on the toilet seat, bending over to examine it first. Something wasn't right about it... I dismissed the thought, probably a trick of the light. Grabbing the end of the bandage, I carefully began unwrapping it from the wounded appendage.

It wasn't until I saw how the foot looked under the bandage that I realized it wasn't a trick of the light. My foot was infected. Well, that would explain the fever. I guess it serves me right, running through the woods practically barefoot, along with the road, and then not watching where I was walking in the house.

I ignored how swollen the pad of my foot was or the fact that pus was seeping out the edges. I'd just clean it out really good while I take a shower. I turned the knob above the bath faucet all the way to the right, then pushed it up. The cold water started to come out of the shower head and I stepped in, favoring my white foot for most of the support of my weight.

The cold water quickly calmed my nerves and cooled my skin. I quickly got to cleaning myself off and made sure to clean out my wound before stepping out and wrapping myself in a pale lime green towel. Once I was finally dry, I looked down at the clothes that I hadn't even taken a real look at yet.

I put on a black 'Disturbed' shirt and black skinny jeans with a rainbow studded belt and plenty of dark green chains hooked onto the belt loops. How the chains fit on there with the belt, I'd never know. It was a mystery to the world. I looked in the mirror at myself, making sure everything was up to par.

Teeth brushed, check. Hair, still looks messy but check. Clothes, check of course. Shoes... Whoops, I need shoes! I rushed back into the bedroom and searched the closet. Eventually, I found what I was looking for. Some shiny, lace up black combat boots with a black shoelace for the right boot and white shoelace for the left.

Once this was finished, I decided to stick on a few accessories. I found my spike black choker, some studded black gloves that laced up with a green string of ribbon, and some black eyeliner. Just to be a bit goofy, basically. I liked to put on eyeliner, even if you could only see it on my white side.

After I was sure that I hadn't put my underwear on the outside of my pants or done anything else embarrassing, I headed off. Next stop, school! I smiled confidently. Oh, yes. Let the fun begin!

I was thankful that the old motorcycle was still in the garage and not completely rusted. It was my favorite motorcycle, and actually wasn't mine. It was my twin brother's. I wasn't given the privilege to even touch such a thing while my family was still alive. I was lucky to be able to eat real food at night, much less be able to even ride in a vehicle. So, it was strange for me to be using a motorcycle. Especially given the fact that I'd never driven one in my entire life.

Basically, I was lucky to be alive by the time I got to the high school. Konoha Academy for the 'gifted and talented,' as it was so idiotically called. Half these people didn't have enough brains to tell whether their own reflection was just that or another person. I knew for a fact that **Tobi **was more gifted and talented than these buffoons ever would be. Wait, why am I thinking about Tobi again? No, forget it...

I was now walking up to the building's front door. I would've walked in but was stopped by someone's hand slamming into the door and a face appearing in front of mine. The person had pale skin, long hair that came down to his shoulders (styled like a duck's ass), and cold dark eyes that chilled most people to the bone. Sasuke.

"I would appreciate it if you move the hell out of my way, Uchiha," I said simply, not wanting a battle today. I wasn't feeling good anyways.

"And why would the weirdest looking freak in school suddenly want to attend out of the blue?" he commented in a snarky manner.

"I wouldn't be getting so cocky if I liked wearing a duck's ass on my head, Sauce-gay," I replied, shoving him out of the way and going inside before he could make another snide comment. Well, that was a horrible way to start off the school day. I looked around.

Ah, school, why did I ever want to come today? Maybe it's that fever... it's probably messing with my head. Reluctantly, I headed for the gym. Why, oh why, did I ever want to come here?

Though it was only seven thirty in the morning, the gym was already nearly full. All thoughts were made impossible to hear by the sea of voices bouncing off the walls. The noise was deafening and reminded me of a bunch of cars honking at the same time, even if they sounded nothing alike. It was close enough, if you ask me.

I sighed as I stomped over to an empty area in the bleachers. As I sat, many people visibly moved away from me in less than ten seconds as if I was the plague. Conceited morons, all of them...

I ignored the fact that nobody would spare a glance at me without hatred, it was okay. I was used to it. But if I was used to it, why did it make my chest ache so much? Why did I feel as if I was being stabbed when there was obviously no knife?

I was so absorbed into my thoughts that I didn't notice a teen with an orange mask over his face sit next to me. When I finally noticed him, I probably jumped ten feet in the air as I squeaked in surprise. Oh, that was the most manly thing you've ever done, Zetsu!

He seemed to chuckle a bit and probably had a grin taking up his entire face. But I wouldn't be able to tell you that, because he was wearing that mask. He raised a hand up, waving it a little.

"Hi, I'm T- umm, Madara Uchiha, and you are?" he asked. If I had been thinking a little more clearly, I would have noticed the uncanny resemblance to Tobi, despite the mask. Or the fact that his voice sounded just like that scary side of Tobi. But I didn't. It's probably the fever. It's throwing me off.

I smiled at him, probably seeming more like the living dead than some happy, bright person with a great outlook on life. That's okay, though. Because it might as well have been true.

"Zetsu Akahana," I said looking away. Was he going to notice how everyone else was keeping their distance and do the same? I reluctantly looked back up. Curse that mask! I can't see his expression at all!

"So," he said, "I overheard a few people talking... you don't really show up very often, do you? What gives, why'd you come all of a sudden?"

"Ugh, that," I groaned, "you really shouldn't listen to them, they have no idea what they're talking about..."

"Yeah, but obviously, you don't come very often. It's written all over your face," he replied nonchalantly.

"Eh," I muttered, "I was-" I froze. No way was I going to tell this guy that I was in an insane asylum.

"Something wrong?" he waved his hand in front of my face in an attempt to get my attention. I quickly snapped my face up to look him directly in the mask.

"I was in the hospital for a while... For family reasons..." I trailed off, looking at the floor.

"Ah, I understand," something told me that he knew something that he wasn't letting on. I ground my teeth, jeez, what was with this guy?

"And what brings you to our lovely school of Konoha Academy for the gifted and talented?" I asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh, that..." he said rubbing the back of his head, "I just happen to live near the school... mine burned down in an... um... accident."

I looked at him suspiciously, raising an eyebrow. An accident? I wonder...

"So, any idea what caused that accident?" I asked, figuring I knew the answer already.

"Well, I guess I found out that gas and fire really do make **boom**," he said, using his hands to emphasize the boom.

I had to laugh at the small show that he made, clutching my stomach as my stomach began hurting. Wow, the nerve of this guy. He could've caused the deaths of many people and he just made a big joke out of it.

"So you're saying that you set your school on fire?" I asked, still trying to hold back chuckles.

"Yup!" he said cheerfully, causing me to burst out laughing again.

"I like you, you're funny," I said, wiping an invisible tear from my face.

"It's what I aim for," he said, probably smiling proudly.

"I guess setting a school on fire is better than murdering your family with a razor-" I stopped. No. There is no way I just said that! I honestly hope he thought I was joking and not talking about something that actually happened.

He tilted his head curiously, then seemed to dismiss whatever thought was in that head of his.

"So, which classes do you have?" he asked me, keeping his cheery voice.

"Oh, I have Pre-Calculus, LIFE, Literature, and Biology," I said, ticking the classes off on my fingers.

"Wow, you have all the same classes as me!" he declared in an overjoyed voice. I didn't know why, but I felt as if he already knew he had the same classes as I did.

"Great," I said, "I guess that means I'll be helping you find your way today!"

Just as I said that, the school bell rang, signifying for everyone to go to their lockers and get straight to class. I jumped up with Tobi to get going. Right when I began to move, some girl shoved her way past me, colliding with my back and stomping on my right foot. I fell over, clutching my foot in pain and whimpering in misery.

"Watch it, freak, "she said, turning towards me and glaring. As quickly as she did that, she kicked me, pivoted, and stomped off. Jeez, now I remember why I hate this place so much. Even the females are evil demons in human skin.

I gasped for air, tears streaming down my face. Damn, forget getting kicked in the stomach, my foot hurts like all hell. Maybe I should have done something about it. I had gotten a fever after all... No, forget that, I can't look like this in front of Madara!

I roughly wiped my the tears from my cheeks, noticing that my temperature had probably gotten twice as hot as it was this morning. That doesn't matter, it's always kind of hot. I'm over reacting. I swiftly stood up, grabbing Madara's hand to drag him along through the mass of students.

Madara seemed to be a bit baffled, but remained silent. That didn't bother me, I'd rather he wouldn't say anything. It made things easier on me. So that the tears didn't break the paper thin barrier that blocked them.

We were soon in the classroom. I couldn't afford I locker, and I didn't have any of my school things with me. Some people probably thought of me as a delinquent or something of the sort, coming to school with nothing. But I wasn't. I simply didn't own anything of the sort. Not because I didn't buy anything. Not because I was broke. No, I had nothing because I wasn't privileged with any of that while my family was alive.

That's not important, though. I'm free now. I'm safe. Nothing's wrong anymore, because they are gone.

"Hey, Zetsu?" Madara whispered.

"Yeah?" I muttered, resting the white side of my face on the desk so that I could still see him sitting at the desk to my right.

"You don't seem to be fe-" Madara was cut off by the door slamming shut.

"Alright, maggots! It's time for your Pre-Calculus class, so shut up and listen!" he boomed, taking his spot behind the podium at the front of the class. Madara reluctantly looked up to the teacher after taking one last glance at me.

"Ah, you must be the weird one I was informed about, "he said cruelly in my direction, "Zetsu, was it? Well I don't care. I am Ibiki. So nice of you to finally show up. I understand that your previous teacher was Anko, but she is now your LIFE teacher instead."

I just nodded meekly towards him before placing my face back on the refuge of my desk. Even if it didn't actually protect me from anything and it had already heated up to the point that it was the same temperature as my face. Ugh, it was so hot. And yet it was cold. I shivered a bit. But it probably just my own paranoia.

"Oh, and you must be the new student, " he said a bit sweeter to Madara, "I am your Pre-Calculus teacher, Ibiki. Please come to the front of the class and introduce yourself."Madara nodded and stood up, prancing over to the front of the room next to the podium. He put his hands on his hips and I was sure that he was smiling.

"Hey, everybody! My name is Madara, "he waved his hand at everybody, "I'm Zetsu's best friend and I came here because my last school caught fire in a tragic accident!"

I nearly burst out into laughter in my delirious haze. Luckily, I stopped myself at silent snickers. Plus, it hurt enough just to do that, my head ached.

"I come from the Uchiha family, which most of them are actually dead except for two others. Any questions?" he almost sounded threatening, but I wasn't feeling too well, it may have been my own imagination.

"Why are you wearing that mask?"said a random girl whom I recognized as the one who had knocked me over and kicked me.

"I don't know... Why'd you hurt Zetsu?" I definitely heard murderous intent there.

That was kind of scary to me, I almost feared for that girl's soul... Almost. Right now, all I cared about was the throbbing of my foot and the major migraine. Why was it so hot in here? I let out a mostly silent moan that only a few people nearby cold actually hear.

"Any more questions?" Madara said sweetly.

For some reason, I felt as if a majority of the class had shook their heads in fear for their lives. I chuckled darkly, causing everything to throb more.

"... Um, I think that's enough. Madara, you may take your seat,"Ibiki said with a slightly nervous voice.

Madara quickly sat back in his seat next to me. That's when it started. The pain suddenly got much worse and the fever felt as if it had flared at least five more degrees. I clutched my head in pain, unable to even whimper from the agony. I felt pins and needles all over my foot as it started to feel really wet. Everything seemed too loud. I think I heard someone asking me if I was okay. I fell out of my seat, but I didn't feel it. Everything already hurt too much. Someone touched me but I didn't have the strength to stop them.

It's too hot. Someone turn on the air conditioner! I wanted to curl in on myself, but I didn't have the strength to do so. I felt as if I was in a surreal world as I was rushed to the nurse's office against my will. I can't stop them, it's too hot and it hurts.

* * *

I could faintly hear voices.

"Oh dear, what ever could've happened to him?" came the terrified voice of a woman.

"He sliced his foot open on some glass yesterday, I think it became infected overnight, "came Madara's voice.

That's odd, he sounds a lot like Tobi... and how does he know about me cutting my foot open last night? Someone was carefully pulling off my combat boot. That made my foot feel really cold and it didn't feel as wet any more.

"Oh, what in heaven's name?" came that voice again.

"Oh no, I knew it was bad, but... how could he let it get this bad?" Madara said, frightened. At least I think it's Madara, maybe it is Tobi.

I then felt something cold on my forehead. I attempted to lean into it and realized that I was feeling a hand. No wet cloth, nothing, just a hand. Was my fever that bad already? "Why is his fever so bad?" she said, "Deary, can you fetch a bowl of ice and a cloth for me?"

I think Madara walked away, but though my eyes were open, I was blinded by a white light. I felt like I was being lifted, then I felt as if my chest was colder. My foot was still hurting, everything was so hot...

"I got it! What now?" came Tobi's worried voice. I had decided that this was Tobi, not Madara. Or maybe they were the same person.

"Good, good," she replied, "please strip him and put this hospital gown on him."

I think that I heard the woman closing the curtain and then I was being moved around. I figured he had followed the orders given by the nurse. And then I felt a cooling sensation much like before. Tobi must have put his hand on my forehead.

"Hey, Zetsu, I know it's got to hurt. Why didn't you tell anyone?" I heard. All I could manage was a small grunt in my attempt to talk. And then a whimper from the pain that the action had brought me.

"Don't push yourself, it'll hurt more..."

The last thing I heard before I lost my consciousness was a gasp, which I figured was due to my most likely heavily bleeding foot.

* * *

Pain. That's all I felt as I willed my eyes open. All I could feel was so much pain and dizziness. I viewed my surroundings and noticed I was hooked up to an IV drip and Tobi was next to me. What was he doing here? Where was I anyways?

The room smelled like a hospital... and it looked like one, too. I looked back at Tobi. He was sound asleep with half his face smashed into the bed right next to my hip. I cautiously placed my hand in his hair, rubbing his head. He looked like the spitting image of a puppy.

Smiling at the thought, I sat in the bed for a while before wondering why I was here. Had I gotten hurt or something? My thoughts were set on pause as I heard a knock on the door."Is anybody in there awake?" said a soft voice.

"Come in," I rasped. Wow, I hadn't realized that I needed water that badly. The door opened and in came Tsunade. Oh, great, that's the **last** thing I needed. Well, that explains where I am pretty well.

"I don't know what made you think that you could just run right out of the asylum in the first place, but then you had to go and do this," she said, gesturing towards me with her hand, "just curious, what in God's name were you thinking?"

"That I wanted to see what it was like to be free again. But don't worry, I won't ever leave again. Not after that. You can count on it," I said, slightly disgusted with myself.

"Oh, but you will. Keep that in mind, you can't stay in this asylum forever, it's not your safe haven," she said matter-of-factly, "even if you can not be cured, you still have to go back into that world. We need to make room for other patients eventually."

I nodded. I already knew that. I knew it all to well and I hated it, too. I looked down at Tobi again. He was just now waking up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes tiredly.

"He was there the whole time. You've been out for nearly two days now," she said, "Tobi was really worried about you, you know."

I merely nodded again. I figured as much when I saw him there in that position upon waking up. I knew all too well how much the nice Tobi cared. I knew all of it and I also knew that I had rejected him completely and that it probably hurt as well.

"I guess that now that you know what you've done wrong, I'll leave you two alone. You can get out of here once the nurse comes in and unhooks you," she said on her way out the door. Good, and don't come back..

There was another stir from the bed before Tobi was up and in my face, hugging me tight."Zetsu! Tobi thought he'd lost you!" he cried, squeezing me as if I would disappear if he didn't. I sighed, rubbing his back and whispering that everything was okay now.

"No, Zetsu is not okay! Zetsu didn't see how pale Zetsu was and all the blood! Zetsu is lucky to be alive..." he whimpered into my stomach. I felt something wet all over my hospital gown and realized unconsciously that it was tears. Tobi was crying. A lot.

Nobody had ever cared about me. Not my mom. Not my dad. Not my twin brother for crying out loud! But Tobi cared... Tobi cares that I was in pain, that I had gotten hurt. Tobi cared about me.

Without noticing what had occurred, I started crying as well. Not in fear or relief, but in pure happiness. I was so happy that somebody actually cared! It doesn't matter if he's a boy...

I have someone who finally truly cares about me...

* * *

Slowly, I rose from my position in the hospital bed that I'd been laying in so long. Tobi was currently sleeping halfway on the bed and both of my knees had gone numb. I watched as the poor boy slept, eyebrows coming together slightly in discomfort as he whimpered and clawed at the bed slightly. I really wanted to get up and move around, but feared the pins and needles. Oh how I hated pins and needles.

Carefully as to not awaken Tobi, I gently moved the upper half of his body off of myself so that I could get out of bed without him toppling over. I smiled at his mostly calm face before I eased out of the bed only to fall into a dresser. Great, my legs couldn't handle my weight and now I have a headache from a certain wooden box which has absolutely no purpose in this room. Seriously, why do they put those things in hospital rooms? It's not like the patients get to wear anything besides a hospital gown...

My internal rant was silenced by the sound of shuffling and mumbling behind me. I whipped my head around and saw Tobi rub his head into the bed, mumble, and yawn before again becoming silent. Phew, for a minute there, I thought he'd - I fell over again as I tried to step away from the dresser. Ouch, that hurt. I glared at the abominable box for a good five seconds, then sighed as I attempted to lift myself from the floor using the bed rail as support. Only to come face to face with none other than Tobi. More like evil Tobi. I felt his cold glare piercing my being before he gave me an honest smile.

"Nice to see you in one piece," he said, chuckling as he did. I glared at the demon of a man.

"Yeah, no thanks to you."

"Excuse me?"

"Name one thing that you've ever done that could have helped me in any way what-so-ever."

"Um..."

"See, there's noth-"

"I'm the one who's been watching out for you all this time. The 'nice' Tobi as you might think of him does exist, but is completely incompetent and useless. Trust me, many people honestly wanted to beat the crap out of you the moment they saw you. If it weren't for me being here watching out for you, Deidara wouldn't have been the worst trouble that you had run into. Also, I'm the one who practically kept you alive after that smart move in your house and getting your foot infected," Tobi finished.

I only blinked. What was I to say when he had helped me that much and all I repaid him with was insults, fear, and disgust? I possibly owed him my life now and I had trampled on his concern as if it meant nothing to me. In fact, Tobi had a right, by all means, to beat the crap out of me for my insolence. (At least in my book, he did...)

Tobi sent me another genuine smile. All I knew to do was frown and set my depressed gaze on the speckled pattern of the marble floor. Wow, I never knew that there was purple and blue on the floor!

"Zetsu, look at me," Tobi demanded. I forced myself not to look up. I didn't deserve to get any concern or kindness.

"Zetsu..." I kept my eyes glued to the floor stubbornly. I felt fingers wrap themselves around my chin and my face was forced to be tilted upwards. I looked defiantly, with watery eyes, at the man that I had feared and misjudged this whole time.

"Look, Zetsu. I know that you've been freaked out by me all this time and all, but let me explain. I was scared, too. The other Tobi is often bullied and so I'm the one who stands up for him. I don't have any friends that I know of. So when I ran into you, I wasn't sure how to react to someone so... different."

"... Different...? I'm different? That's why I matter...?" I whispered, chuckling hollowly. _See? You aren't weird. At least, your not as much of a fruit loop as him. Let me help you..._ I tried to shove down that voice... that urge... but it was no use. If I didn't do something, that thing, that part of me was going to do something that I'd regret.

I slapped away Tobi's hand and hightailed my way out of the room before I could hear or see Tobi's response. Maybe the voice was right. For all I could know, Tobi might just be using me. I shook my head to disperse the thoughts and force back the tears begging to leap from my eyes.

I will not cry. I will not. I kept running until I found myself in a hallway that I did not recognize. I searched my surroundings warily, wondering if I could find a nurse or someone of the sort to direct me to where I wished to go. No such luck. I whimpered, still holding back the tears now threatening and burning my lids.

I leaned against the wall, slowly sliding as a squeak was made by the friction between my back and the thickly painted wall. Pulling my knees to my chest, I sat my elbows on my legs and shoved my face into my hands. Small, mostly silent whimpers left my mouth, which soon became louder and I began to gasp for air.

Was I being used? First, I was literally treated like a dog by my family and constantly bullied and picked on at school. Then that thing came into existence. The thing in the back of my head. And now this. What do I do?

I gasped again for air as my breaths became shorter and soon fell into a deep, gasping nightmare of a sleep.


End file.
